May 2010 Current Events: Disasters & Science News

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

World News | Business News | U.S. News

Here are the key events in Science and Disasters news for the month of May 2010.

• Southeast Flooding Kills at Least 24, 19 in Tennessee (May 3): After two days of torrential thunderstorms, parts of the southeast, including Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi, are seriously flooded. At least 24 people have been killed, 19 of those in Tenn. Nashville saw 13 inches of rain, a record there for a two-day period.
• At Least 43 Dead in Russian Mine Blasts (May 8): At least 43 people are dead in two mine blasts in the Siberian city of Mezhdurechensk. Those rescuers who were attempting to save miners from the initial blast are among those who have perished. Forty-seven others are reportedly still trapped in the mine.
• Oil Spill Biggest in History, Estimates Suggest (May 27): The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, revising previous figures, estimates that 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil per day are spilling into the Gulf of Mexico due to the collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April. The government previously believed that the rig was leaking 5,000 barrels per day. Given the new numbers, this oil spill, approximately 30 million gallons of oil so far, is proving to be the worst in America's history. The world's worst spill ever occurred in 1979 on the Mexican oil rig Ixtoc I, when 140 million gallons of oil were released over a nine-month period.